Improvement in apparatus for distilling hydrocarbon oils



titled taies @aient dimite.

SAMUEL A. HILL AND. CHARLES F. THUMM, OF OIL CITY, ASSIGNORS TO THEMSELVES AND OLIVER I. SOAIFE, OF PITTSBURG, PENN SYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 102,819, dated May 10, 1870.

IMPRVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING- HYDROCARBN OILS.

, wF--v- -The Schedule referred tofin these Letters Patent and part of the sam'e.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that we, SAMUEL A. HILL, and Cuantas F. 1HUMM, of Oil City, in the lcounty of'Venango, in the State of Pennsylvania,'have invented a new and useful Improvementin Apparatus for Distilling Hydrocarbon-Oils; and we do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact Vdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of our inventiou'con'sists inv so constrncting and arranging a series of stills with relation to each otherthat .the oil will flow overA the bottom of the stills in a thin and continuous sheet, Witha different degree of heat applied to the bottom of each Istill; and

Also, in so arranging the connections between the ,i

yseveral stills that the tlow of oil through oneor more.

ofthe stills may be cut cti` from the other stills in the same series.

To enableothers skilled in the art to malte. and use our invention, we will proceed to describe more fully its construct-ion and operation. In the accompanying drawings, which form partof our specification- Figure 1 is a side elevation nf our improvement in apparatus for distilling hydrocarbon oil.

Figure 2 is a top view or plan of the same. Iu the drawings- A A representsa series-of furnaces under the stills. lA and B represent two large separating and heat- .ing-stills, which are used for the purpose of separating the water from the oil,'carry ing oit' the gasoline, and heating the oil prior to its entering the .other stills.

The stills A-aud vBare supplied with oilfthrough thc medium of pipes w, and are also furnished with pipes x', which may be connected to a suitable condenser.

Near the bottom of these stills are two pipes, h and t', which are connected to a pipe, g, which is connected to the stills O, D, E, and F, by means of pipes k, l, m, and n, each being provided with stop-cocks.

The back ends ot' stillsO and D are connected together by means of a pipe; 0,"placed close to the bottom of the stills, and the stills E and.`F are, inv like manner, connected by means of a pipe, P.

These stills are provided with each a pipe, zr, for carrying oii' the vapor to a suitable condensing-device, which may beconst-rncted'in any of the known forms.

The furnaces s, t, w, and 1', are connected to a stack orstacks.

As the construction and arrangement of the several stills, and their relation to each other, will readily be understood from the foregoing description, and by ref- *erence to. the accompanying drawings, we will therefore proceed to describe the operation of our improvement.

The oilV is first introduced into thestills -A and B, and the water separated froin it. After being heated to about 120o Fahrenheit, the valves 1 of pipe h and valvesran'd 2 of pipes g andi are opened, and the oil will owfrom still A over the bottom of still O,- and from it will ow through :pipe O into still D, and will flow from it through pipes Z, g, and m, into the still E, and from it will ow through pipe I into still F, passing thus over the bottom of cach still in a thin an'd continuons sheet, with the heat gradually increasing from furnace s to furnace o.

The vapor-evolved fronithe oil in still C is obtained with less heat than used forv evolving vapor from the oil after it iiows into still D, and the oil, after entering still E, issubjected to a greater degree of heat than when it was in still D; and, after it enters still it is subjected to agreater heat than when it was in still E.

-By thus `gradually increasing the heat while the oil is ,flowing in a thin sheet from one still to the other, the product of distillation will b e greater and more uniform in color, and less liability of burning out the'i bottom of the stills.

vThe skillful mechanic will readil-y see that, by the arrangement of the pipes and stop-cocks with relation to the stills, the iiow of oil may be c ut oii from any one of the stills in the whole series, which is of great advantage 'in cleaning out the stills, which cleaning can be done withoutstopping the operation in the other` stills in the series. v Two large separating and heating-stills, A and B, are used, so that .one can be used (while the other is being filled, thereby keeping a supply of oil at all times for the stills C, D, E, and F.

Oil distilled in the manner herein described wilhreq'uii-e 'less chemicals in its subsequent treatment.

IVe wish it clearly understood that we do' not claim, broadly, the application of a different degree of heat to each still ofa series, for such device is shown in the patents granted to Peter H. Vander Weyde, patented March 6, 1866, and February 12,1867.

Having 'thus described the nature, construction, and i operation of our improvement, i

' What we claim as of our invention is The combination and arrangement of a series of stills, so arranged with relation to each other that the iiow ot' hydrocarbon through one or more-of the stills of the series may befcnt olf from the other stills of the same series, and each still of the series being furnished with separate fire-chamber, so as to apply a different degreeof heat to each still, substantially as herein described and for the purpose set forth.

S. A. HILL.

, OHAS.- F. THUMM.

Witnesses:

-JAMES J. J oHlvsToN,

JAS. G. THOMPSON. 

